Awards season begins: Some surprises among SAG Award nominees

Elba was nominated for an SAG award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries for his role as DCI John Luther in BBC drama Luther, while Rylance was honoured for his role in period drama Wolf Hall.

Trumbo, a biopic about a blacklisted 1940s Hollywood screenwriter, led the Screen Actors Guild nominations on Wednesday in a diverse field that hinted at likely Oscar contenders but snubbed two presumed front-runners, Matt Damon’s space adventure The Martian and Jennifer Lawrence’s drama Joy.

Spotlight, with its heralded cast, was expected to rule, especially in the best supporting actor category (Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton), where it was surprisingly denied. And despite winning in some critics circles a few weeks back, Sylvestor Stallone was left off the best supporting actor list for Creed.

Jacob Tremblay was nominated for his supporting role in “Room”, which could give the young star momentum going into the heat of awards season.

Blanchett is on track to pick up the seventh Oscar invite of her career after SAG voters in Los Angeles on Wednesday gave her a nod for her performance in the 1950s romantic-drama, Carol.

Trumbo expects best-cast awards, with Bryan Cranston as best actor and Helen Mirren as best supporting actress.

Both the casts of the movies “Beasts of No Nation”, which is the fictional story of an African child soldier, and “Straight Outta Compton” were nominated in the best cast category.

“Straight Outta Compton“, the hit film about rap group N.W.A, received the fifth slot in the cast category, outdoing films such as “Joy”, “Steve Jobs” and “The Martian”. The 22nd Annual SAG Awards presenting ceremony will be held at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles on January 30, 2016.

This video includes images from Getty Images.

But the SAG Award nominations also stood out for some selections that were off the experts’ radar.

The nominees for best film supporting actress are Mirren, Rooney Mara (“Carol”), Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”), Kate Winslet (“Steve Jobs”) and Rachel McAdams (“Spotlight”).

British period drama Downton Abbey was also nominated for best drama ensemble.

In the best actor category, Cranston is up against Johnny Depp (“Black Mass”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant“), Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”) and Eddie Redmayne for the transgender tale “The Danish Girl”.

Awards season is just around the corner, and the first big nominations on the road to Oscar glory are out today in the form of SAG Awards nominations.

Ensemble nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards highlight diversity in both film and television, including nods for “Beasts of No Nation”, “Straight Outta Compton“, and “Orange is the New Black“.